Fall Together
by Vermillion-Skies
Summary: “And sometimes things must first fall apart, before they can fall together,” I whispered my eyes gleaming into his. Full summary inside. HieixOC
1. Party Mayham

"And sometimes things must first fall apart, before they can fall together," I whispered my eyes gleaming into his. I couldn't help but notice how beautiful he looked shrouded in moonlight, underneath the midnight sky; the stars dancing off his ruby eyes. Eyes that were filled with so many startling undecipherable emotions. I held my breath as I looked deep within their recesses hoping that somewhere I might find love; for me, for us, for what could be.

**Disclaimer:** No I am not the owner of Yu Yu Hakusho, that is (c) Yoshihiro Togashi trademark. Wish I did...but sadly I do not. I am, however; a proud owner of my character, Mine (Pronounced: ME-NAY! Not MINE!) and the plot of this story.:D

* * *

The sweat dripped down my back collecting in a tiny pool in my waist band. I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly out of my nose. _Almost done._ With that thought in mind I gripped the bar tighter while extending my right leg up and out. I held it there for twenty seconds before collapsing, my breaths coming out in shallow ragged gasps. I had been at my ballet studio practicing alone for over two and a half hours and it was starting to get to me. A string of high pitched notes caught my attention; my phone was ringing. _Oh crap!_ I thought running towards the small silver portable phone.

"Sumi-chan, I am _so_ sorry. I just got so carried away…the recital is so close! I know! I know! I'm sorry, I'll hurry! Okay, bye!" I yelled into the receiver. _She is going to blow a gasket!_ I had forgotten that Sumi had wanted me to come with her to a friends small gathering tonight! That started in, oh about ten minutes. Yikes! I grabbed my pink nap sack and sprinted the six blocks home not even bothering to change out of my unitard. Boy, I sure probably got a few weird looks.

I ran up the stairs of my two story brick house to my room, threw my closet doors wide open and grabbed miscellaneous items of clothing. "This'll work," I said aloud to nobody in particular. I yanked on a yellow pleated mini skirt, and a white quarter sleeved button up shirt. Tucking the shirt into the waist band of my skirt I slid a purple vest over my head. I yanked a brush through my snarled hair, fastened my locket to my neck, and ran out of the house shoes in hand.

I met Sumi at the end of her street as she had requested. She angrily stamped her foot. "Dang it Mine, can't you _ever_ be on time?" She questioned angrily.

"I'll have you know, that I usually _am_ on time, it is you who is normally late," I replied slipping my shoes on. They were a glossy black that criss-crossed along the foot and had a slight heel. In other words, they were the standard school shoe at Meijou High School for the gifted. Looks like I had forgotten to grab my other pair…whoops. I sighed. _I guess they'll just have to do._

"Okay, I forgive you, now can we please just _go_?" Sumi groaned crossing her arms in front of her chest. I shook my head in agreement.

We walked almost ten blocks before we came to a small secluded neighborhood, with fairly nice sized houses on both sides of the street. However; there was one house that caught my eye, if not for looks then definitely for the noise; music pulsed loudly over the laughter and yelling of what appeared to be at least a hundred or more teenagers. A hundred or more teenagers who did not look completely sober.

"Oh no, no way! We are _not_ going in there!" I yelled coming to a stand still with my arms crossed in front of my chest. It wasn't that I was a goody good, I just didn't like parties. Jeering crowds of drunken teenagers were just totally not my thing.

"But, please," Sumi pleaded her large crystal blue hues stared into my emerald ones. I felt my resistance waver. "It's the last day of school, can't we just celebrate? Just this once?" She insisted, her voice carrying a sad lilt to it. I shook my head, knowing it would be no use to argue. After all, she was my best friend I just couldn't leave her there. I nodded my head stubbornly and continued to walk towards the house.

When we entered the medium sized residence the first thing that hit my nose was the stench. The scent of alcohol hit my nose like a bullet, making me cringe. The second, more familiar odor was pure perspiration with no flowery smelling deodorant to obliterate the noxious smell.

In mere minutes Sumi and I were separated. She went to greet friend upon friend, while I just stood there awkwardly. As you could have already guessed, parties weren't quite my thing, it also didn't help that I knew not one single person in this room. They all went to the local Sarayashiki High, a public school located a few blocks from here. My brother's friends attended it, and starting next fall so would my brother and I. Having gone to what others referred to as "The Brain Farm" all my life I was happy for a change.

Luckily for me, my parents being as kind and understanding as they were agreed too let me try public school for at least a year. I hoped maybe more.

A loud obnoxious voice caught my attention, "Hey baby, how are you doing?" Are you serious? How typically cliché, what self respecting girl falls for that line?

"Are you speaking with me sir?" I asked kindly. I sized the speaker up; he was tall, (Not that it was uncommon considering my size, I stood at an astounding 5 foot nothing) with large ovular dirt colored eyes, and equally colored shaggy hair. He was wearing a tight muscle shirt that accentuated his muscular assets, no doubt the _only_ thing he had going for him.

"Why yes, baby, yes I am," The boy said placing his meaty palm on my shoulder.

"You would do well, sir to please remove your hand from me," I responded with a threatening tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked curiously.

"Excuse me, let me put this into terms you can understand a little bit better…If you would like to keep that overly large hand of yours remove it from me. Now," I replied coolly.

"Haha, Do ya' hear this guys? This chick thinks she's tough. Don't ya' babe?" He said to the two similar looking meat head behind him. He chuckled giving my shoulder a tight squeeze.

"Don't call me babe," I yelled grabbing his hand off my shoulder. I gave his wrist a small twist, flipping him completely over until he was on the ground with a dazed expression on his face. The crowed of bystanders tightened around us and his gang of followers, now so dubbed, The Beef Cakes. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" they chanted, thrusting their fists in the air.

"No thank you, I'm not interested," I replied curtly, I started to make my way to the outer edge of the circle when a strikingly familiar hand latched onto my ankle. I looked down to see the boy I had flipped over, still on the ground my ankle clenched tightly in his hand immobilizing me.

* * *

Shuichi stared blankly at the floor from his perch on a beaten up brown suede couch. It reeked terribly of stale chips and equally stale beer. He fidgeted nervously with his a lock of his ruby hair as he waited for his human companions, and Hiei to return. Why Hiei had even _agreed_ to come to this ridiculous high school party escaped even Shuichi. Boredom, perhaps, was the only conclusion he had been able to reach. _I could be at home, but no they just _had_ to come to this dumb human gathering_.

"Yo, Shuichi," Yusuke replied, "Come check this out, some chick is taking on three dudes from what I hear, let's go!" _Oh dear, that _is _rather alarming_. "A damsel in distress? Where?" Kuwabara, my other human companion cried throwing down whatever drink he had been previously sipping on. The fight from a distance away was rather easy to spot, a large mass of teenage bodies had accumulated in what appeared to be the center of the living room, fists in the air all hollering "fight!" Shuichi stopped abruptly, pausing to sniff the air. "No, it can't be," Shuichi whispered. He frantically sniffed again.

"What is it buddy?" Yusuke asked sensing his friends distress.

"Mine," Kurama whispered.

"No way," Yusuke began, "your sister isn't a fighter, she's much to sweet for that!"

"Better guess again Detective, I can smell Kurama's scent all over her," Hiei muttered. Shuichi gasped and began madly fighting to reach the center of the circle. _No way am I going to let those brutes hurt my baby sister!_

* * *

"Oh, but we think you are," His beefy friends replied cracking their knuckles obnoxiously loud, as if trying to emphasize their alleged "bad assed-ness." I groaned, this so wasn't my scene.

"Is that supposed to frighten me?" I replied sarcastically. "Because I'm afraid you're horribly mistaken."

"Is that a fact," one of the Beef Cakes snarled.

"Yeah and here's another: you're ugly" I responded passively, smirking a little bit. Taking my free foot I stepped forward and smashed it into the guy's wrist that was holding my ankle captive. He yelped loudly, leaping back to his feet. I widened my stance.

"Please don't make me fight, I wouldn't want to hurt you," I giggled sweetly, adrenaline pulsing through my veins.

"I think you're the one that's going to get hurt, pinky," The other beef cake said finally speaking up. Anger seared all the way from the tip of my hair down to my toes. _I know, he did _not_ just call me pinky! _He was no doubt referring to my long, thin wavy hair that dangled to my thighs.

"I warned you," I said wearily as the idiot who had been previously on the ground charged me. The first thing he did was grab onto my shoulders, like that will do any good.

"Get, off of me, you brute," I yelled landing a smooth kick to his diaphragm. Dropping to the floor, he grabbed his gut no doubt trying to regain the oxygen I had forcefully pushed out of his lungs. Quite painfully, might I add.

"You bitch, look what you did to Toshiro," Beef Cake's friend yelled making a lunge for me. I side stepped him and he flung himself into the innocent bystanders.

"Silly, idiots, when will you learn?" I responded tapping my chin thoughtfully.

Two sweaty palms reached out, ensnaring my neck, pulling me tightly against a well chiseled stomach.

"Yeah Tomi, hold her while I get her good," Toshiro yelled finally regaining his breath enough to stand on his two shaky legs. The other one circled me.

"She's all yours," the one who had grip of me, Tomi, responded.

"Correction, I do not belong to _anybody_," I yelled. "Oh dear, do you know how to sing?" I asked sweetly look up at the lug who still binded me. My question caught him off guard. "Well you do now," I hollered hitting his solar-plexus's first with my elbow, followed by in stepping, that successfully freed my hands enough so I could deliver a well placed blow to the nose followed by a knee to the groin. All that pain and it only took the use of one elbow. "S.I.N.G" I said sweetly smiling.

"Why, you!" Toshiro yelled lunging for me his hand clutched into a fist. I thrust my hand, palm upwards, into his nose. There was a loud snapping sound followed by spurts of blood.

"Have you had enough yet?" I asked as the boy fell to his knees, eyes watering. "Please don't make me hurt you anymore," I said wiping my sweaty hands on my skirt. I turned around preparing to walk away.

"Hurt this, bitch," a strangled voice called out, followed by a loud clicking sound that I recognized without a doubt to be the sound of knife. I gasped looking over my shoulder. In what felt like a blur, another person stood between me, and what would have surely been my undoing.

"Hn, baka ningens, what kind of a man pulls a weapon while their opponents back is turned? Pathetic," the raspy stranger's voice sounded. He was dressed in mostly all black, with hair that seemed to stand on end, and a pair of piercing ruby eyes. His hand was also currently at Beef Cake's throat about ready to deliver a lethal blow.

"No," I said placing my hand on the boy's shoulder, "he's not worth it."

"Hn," he grunted, reluctantly removing his hand. The circle dispersed leaving only, a few people. My brother, shockingly enough, was one of them.

"Mine, what do you think you're doing here?" Shuichi questioned loudly. His tone was angry and full of concern, as were his expressive emerald eyes.

"Please don't be upset brother, Sumi asked me to come with her, I didn't _mean_ to get into a fight. Honest, they tried to come onto me. I asked nicely, but they wouldn't stop touching me," I replied sadly. I truly did hate fighting, unless it was absolutely necessary.

"They touched you? Those bastards!" A boy called making his hands into two large fists. "Hey Yusuke, what do you think? Should we go and finish em' off?" The orange haired boy asked.

"Yusuke-kun!" I replied launching myself into his arms. He had been a friend of my brother's for almost two years now. Yusuke had always been very kind to me, and brotherly, he had sort of become like a brother to me.

"Hey squirt," He said messing up my hair. I returned the favor.

"Hey now! Enough!" He responded laughing. The orange haired boy made a loud throat sound. "Oh right," Yusuke said looking over at him, "Mine-chan this is.." I cut him off. "Kazuma, Kuwabara…a friend of yours," I responded oblivious to the gaping stares my brother and his friends were shooting at me.

"Yeah, but how did you know that?" Shuichi asked. I shrugged.

"I dunno, I probably heard you say it earlier," I said smiling. _Or maybe I've seen you somewhere_. Yusuke turned to Kuwabara a threatening smirk on his face. "No Kuwabara, you aren't even allowed to so much as _think_ about dating her or else," Yusuke said his voice menacing.

"Let's leave that up to the beautiful young lady, eh Urameshi!" Kuwabara responded. Ignoring their squabbling I turned toward the boy who had saved me, who stood next to my brother looking quite bored and out of place, kind of how I felt.

"Thank you, for saving me," I said bowing deeply to show my gratitude.

"Hn, it was nothing onna," He responded dismissively.

"Have we met before?" I asked suddenly getting a weird tingling sensation of dejá-vu.

"No," he replied. _Must just be my nerves tingling_. I thought dismissing it.

"Shuichi-nii, can we go now?" I asked tugging on his sleeve to gain his attention. He looked down at me smiling thoughtfully, "Sure, let's go home."

"Hey, there you are! Mine I've been looking everywhere for you! Did you hear about the fight? Some chick took out three of the high school's toughest fighters! Can you believe that?" Sumi said appearing breathlessly from behind Yusuke.

"Yeah I can believe it," I responded.

Yusuke grabbed me, forcing me into a headlock while he messed up my hair, "Yeah she took care of those fellas' mighty nicely, yes she did," He cooed.

"Watch it, I'd hate to have to use some of those moves on you, Urameshi," I said coldly. Yusuke gave a girlish yell and relinquished his hold on me.

"That was…_you_?" Sumi exclaimed. I nodded, a little embarrassed. She stared up at me open mouthed, gaping. Man I hate it when people stare at me…

"Let's go, we've stayed long enough," Hiei called out turning towards the door.

_Oh thank heavens_. I thought following him out the door. "C'mon guys, aren't you coming?" I asked flinging the door open. Fresh, cool night air hit my nostrils. I breathed in deeply closing my eyes.

"Oh yes, come on guys let's go!" Kuwabara called following me out into the night like a puppy, the other's not too far behind him.

* * *

_Thank you guys for reading, I will try to have an update at least once, if not twice a week! **Complimentary **reviews are wonderful, but **Constructive**_ _reviews are amazing!_


	2. New Mission

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Yu Yu hakusho, that is the copyrighted material of Yoshihiro Togashi! I do however; own the plot line and Mine:)

**_Dictionary:_**

**Teme:** Bastard

**Baka**: Idiot

* * *

I breathed in deeply letting the cool night air fill my lungs. The coolness of it felt good against my damp brow. _How odd_. I hadn't realized that I had worked up a sweat fighting those goons. _Boy, if I'm working up a sweat just from that then I must be terribly out of shape!_ I sighed, looks like I needed to get back to training. A small cough to the right of me gave me pause. I peered over at the boy who had been my savior earlier this weekend; a smirk was firmly planted on his features.

"So Hiei-san, was it?" I asked catching the boy's attention.

"Hn," he grunted.

"How did you and Shuichi meet," I asked my emerald eyes catching his. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"We met," Hiei began, "a very long time ago." He seemed to be choosing his words very carefully, as if he was afraid to give to much away.

"Ah, I see, well that's lovely; do you go to his school?" I inquired.

"Hn," was his only reply.

"Don't worry Mine-chan, Shorty here doesn't talk much," Kuwabara said placing a large hand on Hiei's shoulder.

"Do you want to loose that hand baka?" Hiei threatened.

"Uh, sorry!" Kuwabara apologized quickly moving his hand from Hiei's shoulder. I stared over at Hiei finally taking in his full appearance. He was wearing what appeared to be a dark black cloak with a white scarf masking most of his neck line. A thin white cloth bandana wrapped itself around his head, mostly covered by his bangs. He was terribly short when compared to the other boys, although he was still at least two or three inches taller than I. This fact seemed to sour my mood. _Was I the shortest person on Earth or what?_ As I glanced into his ruby red eyes I still could not help but feel as if I had _known_ him from somewhere, a long, long time ago. I shook my head. _Get it together girl! Maybe I'm just tired…_

We parted ways about five blocks from the party, Yusuke, Sumi, and Kuwabara going down one street, and Shuichi and I going down the next. Hiei to my utter astonishment had seemingly disappeared with no trace, not even a goodbye. _What bad manners_._ Oh well, it's his way I suppose. For some reason _odd _reason I get the feeling he's the quiet type._ I thought sarcastically.

"Okay Mine, I'm proud of how you took care of yourself, but please don't make a habit out of fighting unless…" Shuichi began.

"Unless it is absolutely necessary, I know Brother," I finished for him. Shuichi grinned and unlocked the door to our house. Both of our parents had went out for the night they had dinner reservations or something and they had assured us that they wouldn't be back until late. I stifled a yawn.

"Oh Mine-chan, would you like to accompany the boys and I to the mall, we were thinking of maybe seeing a movie after or something?" He questioned. I suppressed a yawn and nodded in agreement. "Alright then, we will be leaving early, say nine o'clock! Be ready," Shuichi added.

"Okay oh, and Shu-nii, I think I'm going to head off to bed. Don't go sneaking off in the middle of the night or something," I added in suddenly.

"What makes you think I'd do something like that?" Shuichi asked flashing me a nervous smile, a little _too_ nervous. I rolled my eyes ignoring his question.

_Wow where did that come from? _It was like I didn't have the filter between my brain and my mouth now, and whatever I thought just popped out on command! _Although, I hadn't even been close to thinking about Shuichi when I said that, I was still pondering over the fight. Maybe I'm just tired._ I dismissed the thought quickly and ran up to bed to get some much needed rest.

In my dreams, I am struggling against a powerful, unforeseeable force. It smacks me to the ground, pinning me there; flaunting its strength over me. I struggle up, only to be smacked back down again. The invisible being caries a strange presence; a dangerous one, what I am feeling is its…It is a word I am not familiar with. _Aura_, the recesses of my mind supply for me.

The being relinquishes its hold on me long enough for me to take a good look around. I am in a room, a large room that seemingly stretches on and on and on with no end. Reality fights back with me on this one, _it is impossible, the room can't go on forever_. The air around me is frigid, so cold my shallow breath comes out in small tufts of steam; it is almost hard to breathe. I wrap my goose bumped arms around myself trying to keep in the heat. The room is cloaked in an omnipresent opaque darkness, offering little light. Shadows dance, flickering back and forth. For some reason I think that if they had faces; they would be mocking me. I timidly take a small step forward.

"No Mine, stay in the light," somebody calls out to me in a sing-song voice. It is the voice of a child; a frightened child. I recoiled back yelping a little bit.

"Who," my voice quakes with fear, "who are you?" I manage to stammer out. A loud blood curdling roar slices through the air; somewhere within the deep expanses of darkness children scream…

I awoke with a small start my lavender night gown clinging to me, damp with perspiration. "Just a dream, just a dream, Mine get _a hold_ of yourself it was just a dream," My voice is contorted with fear. _Fear of what_, _of whom? _These are questions that I wish I could answer, but I cannot. The large wooden easel, a present from my parents for Christmas, catches my eye from across the room. I padded across the cold floor until I stood in front of it armed with a blank canvas and a fresh paint brush. Needing no coaxing, my hand reaches up, flying across the canvas.

Almost three hours later the sun began to creep up, stifling a yawn I decided to crawl into bed and catch some sleep for a few hours. Wishing for no more nightmares I tied my pink locks in a high pony tail, snuggled into my pillows, and fell into a deep slumber that to my utter disappointment didn't last long.

About three hours later I was awoken by Shuichi, a little more loudly than I would have liked may I add. Shuichi yanked the covers off my petite body exposing me to the morning cold. I shivered, yanking the covers back up muttering under my breath.

"Come on Mine, we have to go! The boys are already here remember? I asked you last night and you said you wanted to come with us!" He yelled exasperatedly.

"Oi Ku—I mean Shuichi, what's taking so damn long?" A voice I recognized, even in my slumber, to be that of Yusuke.

"Yeah, come on, we still have to pick up Keiko and everything," another voice whine. _Yusuke…Kuwabara? How come they are in my dream…?_

"Just a little bit longer, I'm not ready…to…eat…the cookie Momma," I said sleeping, rolling over to my side and continuing to snore.

"What in the world is she talking about?" Kuwabara questioned poking me in the leg. Shuichi shrugged his shoulders.

"Who knows? I'm afraid I am having difficulties waking her up," Shuichi stated.

"Haha, leave it to me, the great Yusuke Urameshi!" Yusuke proclaimed pointing to his chest. "All I need is a bucket of water and some tooth paste!"

"The only thing that's great about you, Yusuke is your great big ole' mouths, I mean seriously are you catching flies are something…what's up with that?" I yawned sitting up slightly. "What's going on?" I questioned.

"I'll tell ya' what's going on Little Sis, you're getting on my last nerve!" Yusuke said pulling me tightly against his chest, then preceding to "nuggie" my hair.

"Owie, I'm sorry Ke-kun, I thought I was dreaming!" I pleaded. He smirked and released his hold on my head. I sat up a little dazed.

"AAAAAH!" I screamed loudly pulling the sheet over my head. "What are you boys doing in my room?" I questioned from under the sheet.

"Well, we were _supposed _to be going to the mall, but _somebody_ isn't even up yet," Kuwabara recalled.

"Oh no, I am so sorry, how silly of me, you see I was working on a painting until early this morning, hold on let me just go take a quick shower and then I'll be out!" I said. I through my closet doors open, hastily choose an outfit and then literally sprinting towards the bathroom down the hall.

"Painting?" Kuwabara questioned.

"Yes, in addition to being a ballet dancer my sister is also quite a gifted artist, though I will admit, it _has_ been a while since I've seen any of her work" Shuichi stated.

"You better come take a look at this, Kurama" Hiei called jerking his thumb towards her painting station. The boys hurried over curiosity marking their features. Shuichi was the first one to gasp, as he stared gaping really at her new painting. It was a depiction of a youkai; a demon.

"It's a soul stealer," Hiei stated.

"Soul stealer, you mean like Gouki?" Yusuke questioned.

"Yes, they steal the souls of humans, particularly children," Shuichi supplied.

"Only that pathetic fool Gouki, was a third rate demon, not even worthy of anyone's time, if he hadn't possessed the Orb of Baast he wouldn't have even been considered a threat," Hiei spat. He muttered something else along that sounded like "teme," under his breath before crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hey guys…I think you might want to take a look-see at these over here," Kuwabara said indicating to the large rectangular cork board that had all of Mine's sketches pinned to it. Several of the sketches were depictions of Hiei; although his face was blocked out you could still clearly tell it was him. In one particular sketch, there was just a pair of large looming ruby red eyes, an unmistakable trade mark to Hiei. The small fire apparition looked stunned and bewildered at the sketches. He exchanged a curious glance with Kurama.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to her about it, see how much she knows, if anything," Kurama stated his expression hardening.

"Quick, you fools, she's coming," Hiei stated before disappearing. The rest of the boys, still uneasy about the paintings followed him out of the room.

I emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, dressed and ready to start the day off. I was wearing my brand new sundress. It was white spaghetti strapped dress, cinched around the waist with a three inch thick pink bow; fat cherry blossoms speckled the dress in random swirls. My hair was tied into its normal up do; two high pig tails tied in place by two ribbons that matched that of the one on my dress. On my feet was a pair of pink flip-flops, a wristlet dangled from my wrist, and as always my usual locket was around my throat.

"Okay, boys we can go now, I'm terribly sorry for the delay," I asked emerging from the stairs. Kuwabara gaped open mouthed at me as I walked down the stairs, not hiding the fact that he was staring at my…let's just say _assets_. "If you'd like to keep those eyes dear, then they had better stay off of me," I said hiding my threat with a giggle. Kuwabara apologized quickly.

"Well at least we don't have to worry about her standing up for herself," Kuwabara grunted.

"Nope, I am a perfectly fine, intelligent, functional member of society, I can look after myself," I replied.

"Even if you are a wee bit on the small side," Kuwabara said using his thumb and forefinger to indicate how small I was. A quick bop to the head left him spinning, and breathless a lump beginning to form on his brow.

"Oh yes, one thing I forgot to mention about my sister…don't make fun of her height, she can be pretty touchy about it," Shuichi replied trying to control his laughter.

"Yeah, I'm sure those boys that you fought last night woke up with a lot more than a bad hangover," Yusuke joked.

I walked the rest of the way in silence while the boys bantered back in forth. _Guess I just don't feel like talking today, well at least, I'm not the only one_. My eyes shifted up to Hiei's. The sun beat down on my bare shoulders, making me wish I had worn sun block, or at least a hat. Let's just say that I didn't tan very well, mostly my skin turned red and angry looking. I could almost physically _see_ the heat rolling off the black street top in ripples. _Another fantastic day in Tokyo…_I sighed loudly hoping that it would be cool in the theatre.

"Oh, Nii-san don't forget my dance recital is in two days!" I reminded him smiling.

"How could I forget Mine-chan? You've been telling me this everyday…for at least the last month!" Shuichi said his green eyes sparkling.

"Whoops, sorry, well just don't forget!" I said lamely.

"Hey, why haven't I been invited to this Mine-chan?" Yusuke said tugging on my pig tail.

"But Yusuke…I already told you, I left at least a ton of messages with your mother, and then I even mailed you a formal invitation, " I replied confused. "Oh, and yes Kuwabara you may also come if you want too! And you too Hiei...if you would like?" I asked noticing the hurt expression forming on Kuwabara's face, Hiei looked indifferent as always.

Yusuke sighed, "Good old mom," he muttered under his breath. I ignored his comment; Atsuko was a good person, just a little misguided sometimes when under the influence. Which she always was…Yusuke sighed. We stopped in front of a large brick building with numerous displays of blinking neon lights.

"Video arcade, alright!" Kuwabara said pumping his fist into the air. I rolled my eyes; I never quite understood what the big hype over video games was.

"Well, you guys have fun, I'm going to go shopping for new leotards, if that's alright with you," I stated.

"Are you sure? We can accompany you, I'm sure they won't want to stay too terribly long—or not," He said changing his mind after noticing that the two boys had disappeared.

"If you're sure, then I suppose we can just meet up for lunch, let's say around noon at Gekkou. It's a small café, right over there," He said pointing out the direction. "Are you sure you don't want company?" My Brother asked for about the thousandth and one time.

"No, Shuichi, I'll be alright, I can take care of myself, besides I'm sure it'd bore you. Go have fun with your friends," I flashed him a smile before walking into the mall.

"Okay," He muttered turning to Hiei.

"You must sense it," Hiei demanded looking up rather bored at the red head. Shuichi shook his head, "Yes, I do, it is most troubling,"

"Keep an eye on her for me?" Shuichi asked.

"Hn," Hiei said before stalking off.

Shuichi sighed; _this has the makings of becoming a long day_. Reluctantly he headed inside the cramped arcade, flashing neon lights engulfing him.

"Hey Yusuke, do you feel that?" Kuwabara asked setting the game controller down.

"Yeah, I feel you about to get your ass kicked," Yusuke said still furiously toggling the game controls. Kuwabara nudged him in the shoulder.

"No, seriously, do you feel the change in spiritual pressure all of a sudden?" Kuwabara asked with a sudden seriousness that was uncommon for him.

"Yes Kuwabara, I can feel it too, there are demons present," Shuichi said leaning up against a game machine.

"Huh," Yusuke said sounding dumb struck. "Where did your sister go, shouldn't she be close in case something happens?"

Shuichi nodded, "Already taken care of, I can assure you, a certain little fire apparition has his three eyes on her." A rhythmical beeping sound began eminating seemingly from the Yusuke's jean pocket. He cursed twice under his breath before pulling out a small blue compact.

"This better be good," He hollered into it.

"Ahem," Shuichi cleared his throat, "maybe you should take the uh…_call_ somewhere else?" He motioned towards all of the ningens. Yusuke grinned sheepishly before entering the bathroom, crowding into the back corner.

"What do you want Binky Breath? I was in the middle of playing the best game ever!" Yusuke yelled grumpily. A small toddler appeared in the center of the screen.

"Come now Yusuke, is that any way to speak with your superior?" The toddler asked.

"Yeah, superior my foot," Yusuke muttered.

"What was that?" The toddler barked.

"Nothing, now what do you want Koenma?" Yusuke asked.

"There has been a rip, in the Kekkai Barrier, a rather large one actually; we believe that it was formed by a demon that goes by the name of Sasori, Akuma. He is what many in the Makai would call the human equivalent of the Christian's "devil" character. He calls himself the Prince of Darkness, and wishes to control the three worlds, beginning with the human one, but before he can he must find the Orb." Koenma stated readjusting his hat.

"Orb, sir?" Shuichi questioned confused.

"But I thought I destroyed that stupid thing along with Gouki," Yusuke complained.

"You did, we're not talking about the darkness item, I am speaking of the Akari Orb; it's more like a jewel, created out of pure untainted life energy. The orb was created by a priestess, a legendary fighter and peace protector of the three worlds. She was so pure and so powerful, that when she died it is said that all her energy and power crystallized itself into a solid form. It is a most formidable weapon, the orb was hidden a very long time ago by my father; KingYama. He said that he hid it amongst the sakura sprites, but now they have all but become extinct and I'm finding it near impossible to locate them," Koenma said clutching his head as if he was suffering from a migraine

"Alright, and what's this got to do with us?" Kuwabara questioned.

"Well my dear boy, you boys are in charge of locating the Orb, before Akuma does," Koenma stated.

"And just how the hell are we supposed to do that?" Yusuke said pompously.

"Botan will be giving you a tool shortly. It is the Sakura Scepter, the sprites created it, this scepter has the power to locate the jewel, when near the orb the scepter is said to go off, just exactly how it will go off I am unsure. Be careful with this tool Yusuke that is very important! That is all." Koenma finished.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it," Yusuke said flipping the communicator shut.

"Ah, great, another mission," Kuwabara said scratching his head.

"This is not just an ordinary mission Kuwabara; we could all be in grave danger, even worse danger than we were in the Dark Tournament. It is most serious," Shuichi stated, coughing into his hand. Yusuke rolled his eyes. _Hear we go again_...

* * *

**_A/N_**: Thank you to all who read my story, I hope you enjoyed it. A speacial thank you to JJ-Jefferu for being my first reviewer! I really do appreciate it! **_Complimentary _**reviews are great, but **_Constructive _**reviews are amazing! Thank you!


	3. What's new ScoobyDoo?

I practically _skipped_ into my favorite store; The Dancer's Edge. It was a dancer's dream store; stocked with every imaginable item you could or _would_ ever need.

"Hell, Miss Minamino," the store clerk, Mrs. Takamura greeted me. I smiled warmly before returning her hello. I made my way to the back center left of the store my eyes skimming over the many different types of leotards all the while with the feeling of someone's eyes on me. Watching me, it made the little hairs on the back of my stand on end, however; strangely enough I did not feel as if I were in any danger.

"Hello Hiei, would you like to join me?" I asked pleasantly not even bothering to look behind me. I knew who it would be already, I did not need to confirm.

"Hn," Hiei replied.

I smiled ignoring his comment as I continued to search through the racks. I grabbed a dark purple spandex leotard with an open back that had criss-crossed straps going down from the shoulder until the middle back. _It's perfect, how kawaii!_ I tapped my chin thoughtfully. _What color tights should I get?_ I made my way over to the other end of the store searching through the shelves; I found what I was looking for right by a pair of used shoes.

"Perfect," I muttered grabbing them. I grabbed a pair of light purple tights, and a pair of dark purple wool leg warmers. "I needed another pair of these," I said smiling back at Hiei who I noted, was _still_ following me. I skipped my way to the cash register, ignoring the bizarre looks that the people around were generously giving me. Looks from strangers no longer bothered me, I was used to it. With my hair being what many people would consider a light pink, although to _me_ it was a red. _People will think what they will I suppose. _It _was_ true that I hated to draw unwanted attention to my self, but I had given up on being embarrassed about my appearance after the fifth grade. I couldn't help the way I looked; this was how I was born, and I loved it very much.

"Will that be all for you Miss Mine," the kind woman, Mrs. Takamura greeted me. I smiled shyly.

"Yes, please," I replied. Mrs. Takamura took the pile of clothes off my hands and began to ring the up, each item making a soprano _beeping_ sound. I hummed softly to my self while I waited.

"Your total comes to 4,591.87 yen," Mrs. Takamura smiled.

"Here you are, Mrs. Takamura-san," I replied respectfully, returning her grin with my own. She handed me the bag with my selected items. I released a small ear splitting squeal of joy. Almost nothing can make me happier than shopping for dance things.

"Alright Hiei what would you like to do now?" I asked him. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Hmm, well I guess we could start heading off to Gekkou then," I announced to an indifferent Hiei. We walked out of the store—well Hiei walked, I more or less bounced out of the store. Like I said; ballet shopping made me very happy. We stepped outside only to be confronted with a wave of blistering heat. "Wow, this weather sure is something," I muttered wiping the sweat from my brow. We continued to walk down the street, past the small arcade that Shuichi and his friends had inhabited until we were catty cornered to it at a small café entitled Gekkou. Shuichi was waiting outside a rather concentrated expression on his face.

"I'm so sorry Mine-chan, but it would appear that the boys and I have to go make an emergency trip to a hospital, Kuwabara's sister has been in a car wreck and we're on our way to see her. Actually the boys have already gone ahead," Shuichi said rather worriedly.

"Wow, I am so sorry, tell Kuwabara I hope his sister gets better soon," I replied. Shuichi nodded, "Hai, I will, in the mean time you should probably get home, we'll reschedule for some other time, maybe tomorrow?" I nodded my head in agreement.

"Hn and I suppose you want me to come with you?" Hiei startled me by speaking. Shuichi nodded his head. Hiei rolled his eyes before following after my brother. _Well now what? _I had already finished what little errands I had for the day, but I was still not ready to go back home. It was rather nice outside, except for the blistering heat, but hey that was life. After a few minutes I decided that it would be a lovely after noon to spend in the park, and then I would go to my dance class later on in the afternoon.

With that thought in mind I headed off in the direction of the Shimasu Park. After about five minutes I finally reached my destination. I laughed in excitement; there were a set of swings open. I ran to one, hoping on still giggling madly. I loved the swings, I had always loved the swings ever since I was a small child and Shuichi had first taught me how to use them. I had always loved the way you felt as you traveled higher and higher, it was almost as good as flying!

I gripped the old rusty chain, it felt cool in my hands despite the hot afternoon sun, and pushed off the ground. It took me a little while to get started, but in mere moments I was soaring. I kicked up with my heels urging my self higher, it I looked up at just the right angle it appeared as if I was walking on the clouds. This thought made me laugh. After what felt like an hour of simply swinging back and forth swinging, I decided to get off, a whole school of children were just now walking in and it didn't seem right to hog the swing set.

I wandered aimlessly through the park until I found a small forest. Curiosity over coming me I decided to venture through it. It was filled with lush green foliage, large sweeping trees, and thorny bushes. The air smelled fresh and pure; a dramatic difference than the way the city smelled. I inhaled smiling as I danced through the flourishing greenery doing random sautés, and souses. I whirled around and around in a small clearing before falling down promptly on my back laughing from the dizziness. I examined a leaf; its veins stretched out across it creating intricate patterns. It was so beautiful; nature was beautiful.

I sighed checking the watch in my wristlet. My eyes bugged out in surprise, it was nearing three thirty! I was going to be late to practice for sure! I stood up my happy mood completely obliterated by the thought of being late to dance rehearsal. The punishments my sensei usually dished out were harsh and definitely not pleasant experiences to undergo. I looked around the forest where I had spent the last hour and a half or more in. I pursed my lips. _Now which was the direction I came from?_ I wandered around aimlessly for another fifteen minutes before eventually returning back to the spot I had originated in. _Fantastic…I'm lost._ "Well there is no way to get completely lost in Tokyo, the city is so widely populated, all I have to do is pick a direction and follow it," I said to nobody in particular.

A large rumble resounded through the trees, shaking the foliage. The ground below me began to tremble slightly. "What the…? An earthquake?" I asked myself. An icicle of fear crept down my back making me shudder slightly. _This isn't natural_. Something in the back of my mind told me to run; screamed at me. However; because I am obviously of little intelligence I stayed; frozen in place like a deer in frozen in headlights.

The trees began to crash together more violently as a figure emerged. A large beast like figure loomed out of the brush. Two ivory horns stuck out of the figures head, he had large moss colored eyes on his ghoulish face and a mouth full of sharp, yellow teeth. His skin was a red tint, scaly, and leather looking and he must have been at least seven feet tall. Muscles that seemed to grow on top of yet _more_ muscles lines his arms and legs, the unearthly being was dressed scantily in some sort of loin cloth. I flinched; all in all he was one ugly beast.

"Ha ha ha, looks like I've found you, Master shall be please," The beast said advancing. I laughed, are you serious? Hadn't I seen a being _just_ like this one on that popular American show _Scooby-Doo_? Faster than I could see the beast grabbed me with one meaty paw holding me up to his face, his large fish like eyes studying me.

"What is so funny about your doom puny one?" The being inquired. I continued to giggle, as I began to see the _Scooby-Doo_ theme song.

"Scooby dooby doo, where are you, we've got some work to do now," I said as I lunged for the beasts nose. Gripping it tightly I began to pull up with all my might trying to tear of the ugly mask.

"What are you doing?" He asked looking not amused.

"Trying to take off your mask," I grunted with strained effort, "It has to be a mask, there is no _way_ you can be this ugly." I tugged harder. My last comment seemed to touch a nerve within the beast.

Suddenly I felt myself soaring backwards into a tree ten feet away with a gust of wind. I gasped as my back collided with the tree, pain exploded through my back. I looked up at the man my vision bleary and tube like. I could feel reality slipping through me. The man hovered over me glaring nastily. He gripped my hair in his hand; hoisting me into the air. I yelped in pain, fear lodged in the pit of my stomach. He slammed my head against the tree; hard. A sticky substance oozed down my cheek; my vision blurred. _Please somebody…help me._ That was the last thing I had time to think before I was swallowed by the opaque abyss.

Kurama opened the door to his home, his mother Shiori was still not home from work and his step father had been on a business trip for the last week so it was the perfect place for gang to hold their meeting. Kurama stepped inside the quiet house cautiously. Something was not right here. He sniffed the air once…twice. Yes something was _definitely_ not right. All talking ceased once Yusuke caught a glimpse of the expression on Kurama's face.

"What's the matter?" Yusuke asked.

"Mine, isn't home, that's odd," concerned dotted his features.

"I'm sure she's just at one of her friends house and lost track of time, heck it happens to me all the time," Yusuke said placing a comforting hand on Kurama's shoulder. Kurama nodded in agreement, the sliver of fear finally easing out of his stomach. In the next room the phone began to sound loudly.

"Make yourselves at home, I'm going to go answer the phone," Kurama said excusing himself. He jogged into the dark kitchen, switching on the light as he answered the phone. He picked it up on the third ring.

"Konbawa, Minamino residence Shuichi speaking," Kurama said his tone light.

"Konbawa, Shuichi-san, this is Mika Takahashi, the secretary from Mine-chan's dance school," Mika said politely introducing herself. "Anyway, I was just calling to say that Mine did not attend rehearsal, is she sick? She hasn't missed a rehearsal since she started attending classes almost ten years ago," Mika said her voice full of concern.

"Uhm, yes…as a matter of fact she is, it was very sudden last night in fact, and she came down with the stomach flu. It's completely passed now, but we thought it was wise to keep her home just to be sure," Kurama said nervously. Fear crept it's way down the kitsune's back as he nervously exchanged pleasant good bye's with the secretary. How was he supposed to explain to somebody that he had let his pride and joy…his little sister _disappear_? Shame washed through him as he crept into the living room where his friends were seated on the couches; well except for Hiei who was seated at the window seat taking in the view.

"Kurama, what's the matter you look like you've just seen a ghost!" Kuwabara said pointing towards the redhead. It was true, his face had paled considerably and there was a light sheen of greasy sweat covering his forehead.

"Mine is missing," Kurama said in a panicked voice.

I awoke to pain exploding in my frontal lobe. I sat up groggily, my vision was still blurry from the blow to the head big, bad, and Ugly had given me ever-so thoughtfully. I rolled over…slowly; very slowly as to not disturb the killer headache I had developed. I observed my surroundings with a loud groan. _No wonder why my vision looks funny, it's pitch black in here!_ I was in a small room; it was so small in fact it was more like a closet. There were no windows, there was no bed; the only things in the room besides my self were a couple of measly cobwebs and dust fragments. The ground was dirt, and from what I could feel were the walls were made out of steel. I shuttered, as I assessed the situation. It would appear that I was trapped! I fought off a scream of hysteria; going bananas would not help me, just as crying would not. _I just need to find the door._

I crawled on all fours to each side of the steel wall, running my hand up and down trying desperately to find a way out. After the second wall I finally found what appeared to be a door. I grabbed at the handle; I knew it was a foolish hope to think that the kidnappers would be stupid enough to leave the door unlocked but I just had to try. As I turned the handle my hand was met with a blast of electricity. I cradled my injured hand to my chest, it was only lightly burned. "Oh Mine what have you gotten your silly self into now?" I asked myself.

The thudding of footsteps woke me up out of my daze; I stood up stepping into a fighting stance. There was absolutely no way I was going to sit here like a scared rabbit. Shuichi had taught me better than that. _Whatever is coming, I'll be ready_. I gulped. _I hope…_


End file.
